Here we go: TriStar is in development with what could be the next great superhero franchise, DMC, based on the graphic novel from Darryl McDaniels of legendary hip-hop trio Run DMC fame. The graphic novel was created by McDaniels and Damion Scott, with Ronald Wimberly serving as creative consultant. McDaniels will produce, with Malcolm Gray and Nicole Brown overseeing for the studio.

Released in October of 2014, the graphic novel is set the New York City of 1985, in which graffiti covers subway cars as b-boys break and spin in playgrounds and on street corners. Drugs and crime rule the streets, though a handful of superheroes in spandex and capes wield their gadgets and superpowers to “clean up” the city–but only for the benefit of a select few. The ‘graffiti king’ Mr. Marx roams the subway tunnels, moral crusader The Puritan watches over the Lower East Side, while the Upper East Side’s Helios.

But the rest whisper a different name: DMC, who dons his tracksuit and Adidas sneakers to defend the city’s marginalized citizens against super villain and super hero alike.

We’re hearing that the film is being pitched as Kickass in tone, imaging “an alternate history that blends traditional comic book storytelling with the pressures and anxieties of 1980’s New York–exploring how we got to where we are now.” The story will explore DMC’s transition from rapper into superhero.

McDaniels, whose innovative rap group Run DMC broke barriers for hip hop artists in the 1980s, developed a passion for comic books as a child growing up in Queens, New York. In 2014, he founded his own comic book publishing house, Darryl Makes Comics, with partner Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez and music executive Riggs Morales. The DMC graphic novel marks the debut for the company, with DMC #2 set for release this fall.

Producers are currently looking for the right scribe to pen the screenplay.

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